


Love Like Homemade Chocolates!

by writers_haven



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-12 08:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3350831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writers_haven/pseuds/writers_haven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...heartfelt, but of dubious quality.</p><p>"Here Jean was, ready to leave his love letter on Mikasa’s desk and hope to the gods above that she showed up on the rooftop after school to hear his confession. </p><p>There was, however, a slight problem.</p><p>Which desk was Mikasa’s?"</p><p>or</p><p>the one in which Jean tries to confess to Mikasa and things don't exactly go according to plan</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. suddenly, a boyfriend?!

\--

**Saturday**

\--

It was a full hour before Jean had to be in school, and yet, there he was, standing in the doorway to 2-A with an unassuming white envelope in his hand, his heart pounding in his ears.

Today was the day. He was going to do it. Three months of nervous attraction (it wasn’t _pining_ , okay, Marco, shut up), and Jean was finally going to confess to the girl of his dreams.

Mikasa Ackerman.

She was _perfect_. Her silky black hair, her sharp dark eyes, her athletic physique– Jean was pretty sure the only reason he hadn’t really noticed her before was because he hated Eren fucking Jaeger, and therefore Mikasa and Armin Arlert by proxy. But man, the moment Jean really _saw_ her, saw her powerful form on the tennis court, her ruthless style of play– bam! Just like that, he’d fallen for her.

Unfortunately, Jean had almost never gotten the chance to speak to her. What with being in different classes and clubs, it was impossible to just naturally start talking to her. Plus, Jean and Eren’s rivalry made sure they moved in different social circles, so there was no way they could be introduced by a mutual friend, either. (Well, there was Sasha, who often ate lunch with Mikasa, but she and Connie would never let Jean hear the end of it if he admitted to them that he liked her, because they were assholes. Sometimes, Jean wondered why he was friends with them.)

Jean had endured this torturous situation for three long months before finally deciding he should just approach it the same way he did everything else: head-on, and probably without giving it as much thought as he should have. Jean had a tendency to overthink things, especially in the romance department, and he’d learnt from experience that it stopped him from achieving what he really wanted.

And so, here he was, ready to leave his love letter on Mikasa’s desk and hope to the gods above that she showed up on the rooftop after school to hear his confession.

There was, however, a slight problem.

Which desk was Mikasa’s?

At this point, Jean had two options.

The first was to postpone the confession until after he found out where she sat– but Jean was mentally prepared to confess to her already, and he didn’t think he’d be able to work up the courage again. Plus, he’d been planning to give her chocolates– the only time he could remember seeing Mikasa looking anything close to happy was when she was eating the chocolates Jaeger’d made in Home Economics last year. (He remembered because Jaeger was the _worst_ at Home Ec, and the chocolates really couldn’t have been that good. He was convinced that she and Armin were pretending so Eren wouldn’t feel bad.) The chocolates definitely wouldn’t last a day in the Kirschtein house without his mom crying over how “her little Jeanbo is growing up and getting girlfriends”, so that was a definite no.

The second option was to ask someone in 2-A where she sat. It would be extremely embarrassing, but if there was someone in the class who was suuuper nice and willing to keep a secret…

Wait. Krista Lenz was in 2-A, wasn’t she?

“Good morning, Jean!”

Jean flinched violently, turning sharply to see Reiner grinning at him, far too cheerful for this hour of the morning.

“M-Morning, Reiner,” Jean managed awkwardly, praying he wouldn’t notice the love letter in Jean’s hand. “Uh, what are you doing here so early?”

“Morning baseball practice,” Reiner replied, squeezing past Jean and making his way to his seat. “It was cut short today since our coach had a doctor’s appointment.”

“Oh,” Jean said, for lack of anything more interesting.

“What about you, Jean? Aren’t you in 2-D? What are you doing here?” Reiner continued curiously, blinking at Jean.

Jean cringed. “Uh.”

Reiner’s eyes flicked down to Jean’s hand, then widened in surprise. Jean had to stop himself from facepalming. “Jean!” Reiner cried, looking Jean in the eye. “Is that a love letter?”

“Shh!” Jean hissed, looking around in panic. “I don’t need the whole school hearing about it, okay?”

“Oh, of course, I’m sorry.” Reiner looked like a scolded puppy. A huge, muscular, slightly terrifying-looking puppy, but a puppy nonetheless. “Who is it for?”

Jean hesitated. Reiner would know where Mikasa sat, but Jean couldn’t say for certain that he wouldn’t go blabbing about it, which would be really embarrassing should Jean get rejected. Maybe it was better to go with Krista… if she was even in school at this time.

“Uh, do you know if Krista’s in school right now?” Jean asked cautiously.

Reiner blinked, thinking– then his whole face grew serious. “She usually gets here ten minutes before the first bell,” he said gravely, “but, Jean, you should know that she has a girlfriend–”

“No no no!” Jean cut him off, waving his hands in protest. “I’m not– she isn’t– I don’t–”

“I understand, Jean,” Reiner said sympathetically. “Krista is beautiful and kind, an angel, really–”

“I don’t _want_ an angel!” Jean burst out, turning red with embarrassment. “I mean– yes, I do, but it’s not Krista, okay?!”

Reiner frowned for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, then suddenly seemed to realise who Jean meant and looked at him in absolute delight. “I know exactly who this angel is, Jean!” he declared joyously. “You couldn’t have chosen a better person to entrust your heart to!”

Jean made a face. He was cool and tough and badass; he didn’t _entrust his heart_ to anybody! “Yeah, okay, right,” he said quickly, before Reiner could continue with the sappy language. “Can you just– tell me which desk I leave the– the letter on?”

Reiner beamed at Jean, so happy you’d think that _he_ was the one getting confessed to. “Second row, third from the right,” he said, watching happily as Jean carefully placed the letter in the middle of the desk.

“Thanks, man,” Jean said, with a smile of relief. “See you later.”

“Good luck,” said Reiner, and that was that.

Now, all Jean could do was hope for the best.

\--

“So, today’s the day, huh?” is what Marco said by way of greeting, sliding into his seat beside Jean.

Jean took a deep breath. “Yeah,” he murmured, trying to keep his nerves under control. “I feel like a middle-schooler, leaving her a love letter.”

“I think it’s very brave of you,” Marco said kindly. “You’re doing it after school, right? It’s a half-day at least, so you won’t have too long to wait.”

“Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Jean grumbled.

“What is?” Connie asked, suddenly appearing behind Jean and slinging an arm around his neck. “Hey, hey, what’s going on?”

Jean gave him a sharp glare out of the corner of his eye. “None of your business, Springer,” he said gruffly, jabbing an elbow into Connie’s side.

Connie yelped and jolted away from Jean hurriedly. “Aw, you’re no fun,” he told Jean, sticking his tongue out petulantly. “Marco, c’mon, who put the stick up his ass on a wonderful day like this?”

“Sorry,” said Marco with an innocent smile. “I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”

Connie raised an eyebrow, looking between Jean and Marco suspiciously. A sly grin spread across his face. “I guess a better question would be, whose ass does he want to put his stick up?”

“Oh, fuck off,” grumbled Jean. “Why does it have to involve asses at all?”

Connie scoffed. “Oh please, nervous waiting Jean and secretive reassuring Marco, today of all days? It’s gotta be _love_.”

Marco chuckled, obviously amused by the whole thing, but Jean turned to his friends with a frown. “What do you mean, _today of all days_?”

Marco blinked at him in alarm. Connie outright gaped. “You mean, you don’t know?” he demanded, incredulous. “Jean, I’m supposed to be the slow one here!”

“You’re not slow,” Marco told Connie, frowning. “Jean, do you really not know what today is?”

Jean narrowed his eyes at his friends, unsure if they were just being dicks. “What’s so special about–”

“Hey guys!” Sasha greeted, practically bouncing up to them with a huge paper bag. Which was strange, because she wasn’t even in their class– “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Jean’s jaw dropped in shock. “Wait, it’s Valentine’s Day?!” he demanded, turning to Marco in horror. “Why didn’t you _tell_ me?!”

“I thought you knew!”

Jean groaned and buried his face in his hands. It was meant to be the _girl_ giving chocolates to the _guy_ on Valentine’s, not the other way around! Would Mikasa think he was implying she was more manly than he was? Would she be insulted by it? Oh, why hadn’t Jean checked a calendar before deciding to go through with this?!

“Oh, don’t look so devastated, Jean!” Sasha chirped, handing him a small red box– giri-choco, no doubt. “I spent hours making these yesterday. That means _handmade truffles_ on White Day, Kirschtein, none of that store-bought stuff from you!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Jean grumbled, waving his hand irritably, still trying to figure out what to do. Maybe he should just postpone the confession? But Mikasa was definitely in school already, the bell was going to go in five minutes…

Sasha grinned, and turned to the other two. She presented a similar box to Marco (“ _You_ can buy your White Day chocolates, don’t worry”), but simply grinned at Connie.

“Oi, Sasha, what about me?” Connie whined. “Don’t _I_ deserve chocolates?” His tone was light, joking, but Jean knew better. Connie’d recently come to terms with his feelings for Sasha, and had spent the past week worrying about whether he’d get giri-choco or honmei-choco from her (or no choco at all, the idea of which caused great panic). In hindsight, that probably should have been Jean’s first clue that Valentine’s was coming up. How had he missed it?

“Quit whining, Connie,” Sasha told him, rolling her eyes. “You don’t even like sweets. I’ll treat you to lunch after school instead. But you have to treat me to three times as much on White Day!”

Connie beamed so brightly it was difficult to look at him. “Awesome,” he said happily, fistbumping Sasha. “Meet you at your class after school?”

“Sounds good,” she agreed, grinning. “See you later!” Sasha turned and left, probably to distribute more chocolates.

When she was gone, Connie heaved a huge sigh, looking half-happy and half-disappointed.

“Well,” Marco tried to cheer him up, “it wasn’t a confession, but she obviously cares about you. I mean, knowing that you don’t like sweets and giving you a present you’d actually enjoy instead– that’s really thoughtful of her.”

Connie sighed again, but didn’t say anything. Marco kicked Jean’s foot and nodded at Connie, eyes telling him to _say something nice_. Jean rolled his eyes– couldn’t Marco see Jean had his own problems?– but opened his mouth anyway.

“Yeah, look at the giri-choco she gave us,” Jean said, trying to sound encouraging. “It’s almost identical, and I bet she had loads more in that paper bag. But how many people is she going to treat to lunch after school?”

Connie didn’t answer, but looked at his friends with something like hope in his eyes.

“You’re special to her,” Marco finished, smile soft.

Connie flashed them a grateful smile, then grinned widely, looking a lot more like his usual self. “Of course I am, I’m great,” he declared proudly. “Who could resist my charm?”

“That’s the spirit,” Marco laughed.

“Great to see your self-esteem’s recovered,” drawled Jean. “Now piss off.”

Connie laughed. “Why are we friends?” he asked, with no real heat, and, thankfully, pissed off.

\--

Morning classes passed by in a blur– suddenly, the bell had gone, and everyone was packing up to go home. Jean, unfortunately, was still undecided, the small white box of chocolates he’d poured his heart and soul into making sitting on his desk and staring at him. Should he give the chocolates to Mikasa or not?!

“Jean,” Marco began, sounding concerned. “Shouldn’t you be going?”

Jean nodded wordlessly.

Marco’s tone turned to that of exasperation. “You’re still worrying about that?” he demanded. “Just give it to her!”

“But what if–”

Marco made an annoyed sound. He dragged Jean to his feet and shoved the white box in his hands, then prodded him out of the door. “Go!”

“Marco!” Jean yelped, staring at his best friend in shock. With Marco’s kind and caring nature, it was easy to forget that Marco was just as strong as Jean was.

“You better hurry, or you’ll be late!” was all Marco had to say– and he was right. No time for worrying over some stupid box of chocolates now!

“Thanks!” Jean called over his shoulder, and almost ran to the rooftop.

\--

Jean, surprisingly, _wasn’t_ late. Or, rather, he thought he would be, since he’d expected Mikasa to show up right after school ended, but he supposed that was a little presumptuous of him. While he’d been waiting three months to get this off his chest, she might not have been quite as eager to hear a confession from some secret admirer who’d left a love letter on her desk like a coward. Hell, under these circumstances, Jean was just hoping she’d show up.

Jean let out a deep breath, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm. Thanking the gods it wasn’t snowing, he positioned himself in front of the rooftop door, looking out for any sign of her with the sound of his heart’s rapid pounding in his ears. Realistically, Jean knew it couldn’t have been more than five minutes– but it felt like ages.

And then, suddenly, the door handle turned.

The moment the door swung open, Jean bowed low, torso parallel to the ground. He held the box of chocolates out in front of him with both hands and blurted out, “I-I really like you! Please go out with me!”

Silence. Jean maintained his bow, willing his hands not to shake with nerves, bracing himself for an answer–

“Uh,” said a voice that was _definitely_ not Mikasa’s. Jean looked up immediately, eyes wide and cheeks red. Who had he just asked to go out with him?!

Armin Arlert stood before him, blue eyes even larger than usual and cheeks flushed red.

Jean had just confessed to his dream girl’s _best friend_.

Jean just stared for a moment or two, embarrassment slowly seeping through his body, causing him to blush as well.

“S-Sorry!” Jean said quickly once he’d regained his composure, avoiding Armin’s gaze and starting to lower his arms when–

“W-Wait!”

Jean froze, eyes flicking back to Armin’s. Armin, blushing hard with embarrassment, hesitantly grasped the box with both hands. He took it from Jean’s hands, bowing slightly, and Jean, for whatever stupid reason, _let him_.

“I-I was very happy to get your letter,” Armin began, looking Jean in the eye nervously. Wait, how had Jean’s love letter ended up in Armin’s hands in the first place?! Had Reiner lied about the desk?!

Oblivious to Jean’s panic, Armin continued, “Your feelings seem very genuine, and I’m flattered.”

Oh, fuck, Armin was way too nice. Man, what was Jean going to do? He couldn’t just tell Armin that the letter was meant for Mikasa, that was just embarrassing and awkward for them both!

“But, to be honest, I’ve never really thought about you in that way,” Armin went on apologetically, and _great_ , now he was getting rejected by someone he’d _never meant to confess to_. How is this Jean’s life?

“Well,” Jean said, trying to sound appropriately heartbroken, “you can’t change the way you feel. I understand.”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant!” Armin protested hastily. “I think I just don’t know you well enough yet. And, I think… there are things about me that, if you knew, you wouldn’t like me as much as you do.”

“Armin,” Jean tried to keep the plea out of his voice, “don’t force yourself into doing anything you don’t want to.”

“But I want to!” cried Armin, and immediately blushed even deeper. “I-I mean– Jean, you seem like a good person. To just reject you right now– it wouldn’t be fair to you. So– let’s go out, and get to know each other. Just to give it a shot?”

“So you’re suggesting we date… on a trial basis?” Jean asked slowly, racking his brain for a way out of this.

Armin nodded. “Yeah, exactly. Maybe, until White Day? Then, we can decide how we really feel about each other, as people. Is that okay with you?”

“W-Well…”

Jean had two options. The first was to swallow his pride and tell Armin the truth right here and now. Sure, it would be mortifying, but it would be the right thing to do.

Or, Jean could date the guy for a month, then break it off. He would have to date someone he didn’t actually like– but with how close Armin was to Mikasa, Jean might be able to find out more about her. This might be Jean’s way in with her!

He could do this. He’d dated girls he didn’t really like before; how different could it be to date a guy?

“Okay,” Jean said finally, putting on a smile.

One month wasn’t _that_ long to pretend.

…Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Valentine's fic! I'm so excited, I haven't tackled a multichapter in ages. If all goes according to plan, I'll have one chapter a week leading up to White Day!


	2. Week One: perseverance in the face of adversity

\--

**Monday**

\--

“Only you, Jean,” Marco sighed, shaking his head in exasperation when Jean finished telling him what happened on the roof. “So, what happened after that?”

Jean shrugged a little awkwardly. “We walked to the station together. He was meeting his friends for lunch, so we exchanged numbers and email addresses and went our separate ways.”

Marco wasn’t satisfied. “And?”

Jean frowned. “ _And_ what?”

“How was it?” Marco clarified impatiently, voice low to prevent the other students of 2-D from overhearing. “You think you can date him for a month?”

“Not really a matter of _can_ or _can’t_ ,” Jean mumbled back miserably, running a hand through his hair. “I already dug my grave, now I have to lie in it.”

“Well,” Marco said, using the light voice he always did when imparting wisdom he knew Jean wouldn’t listen to, “you could always tell him the truth.”

Jean scoffed. “No way,” he declared firmly. Just the thought of it made him burn with embarrassment. It wasn’t happening. “Besides, Armin isn’t a bad guy. Not my usual type, but at least he doesn’t seem like an asshole.”

“Yeah, there’s only room for _one_ asshole in any relationship,” Marco quipped, his grin teasing. Jean rolled his eyes. How did people think he was a _saint_? “But seriously, are you sure you want to do this? It’s not just yourself at risk here, Jean.”

“We don’t like each other,” Jean reminded him. “Hell, we barely _know_ each other! Nothing is going to happen. We’ll date, we’ll have relationship problems, we’ll break up. This is _high school_ , Marco, what else would happen?”

“What else, huh?” Marco repeated softly, with a knowing look on his face. “I wonder.”

Jean narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing,” Marco deflected easily. “Just… be careful, okay?”

Jean snorted. What was there to be careful about?

\--

Lunch rolled around, and Jean could feel dread in his stomach at the thought of calling Armin out to eat with him. Not that Armin was scary –in fact, the few texts they’d exchanged indicated that Armin was a perfectly pleasant person. Rather, Jean knew how protective Eren could get, and there was no doubt Jean would get the nastiest stink-eye in history when he showed up at 2-A.

Still, if he ever wanted to date Mikasa, he’d have to learn to deal with that anyway, so it’d be good practice at least.

...Come to think of it, Mikasa would be there too, under the impression that Jean was in love with Armin. Man, the whole situation was going to suck _so bad_.

“Oi, Jean,” Connie’s curious voice snapped Jean out of his thoughts. “What’s up, not hungry?” He sounded a little alarmed, which was fair enough considering Jean was _always_ hungry (or, at least, he always had space in his stomach).

“Uh, no,” Jean began, grimacing at the thought of all the teasing he’d endure. “I’m actually–”

“Jean,” came Armin’s voice from behind him. Surprised, Jean whirled around– Armin was standing on the other side of the hallway window, smiling at Jean a little nervously. “Hi. Want to eat lunch together?”

“Y-Yeah, of course,” Jean said, relieved, refusing to look at Connie’s sly grin and suggestively waggling eyebrows as he left the classroom, bento in hand. “See you guys later.”

“Have fun on your lunch date!” Connie teased. “Be safe, kids!”

Armin squeaked and went bright red. Forcing his own blush down, Jean grabbed Armin by the arm (they were dating, physical contact was allowed… no matter how weird it felt) and made a hasty exit before Connie’s snickering could get any louder.

\--

It was still way too cold to go and have lunch on the rooftop, so they made their way to the Home Ec classroom instead.

The whole thing was, well, _awkward_.

They made awkward small talk while walking, endured an awkward silence while they sat down across from each other, smiled awkwardly while trying to fill the awkward silence– Jean had dated girls before, but he’d liked them and/or they’d liked him, it had never been this _weird_ with them.

 _Alright,_ Jean thought to himself, _time to suck it up._ First things first, if he was going to date this guy for a month, he should get to know him better.

“So, Armin,” Jean said, trying to emulate the friendly smile Marco used to make people trust him. “Tell me more about yourself.”

“Me?” Armin asked, sounding surprised. “Uh, I’m really not that interesting…”

“Oh, come on,” Jean persisted. “Just small things are fine, too, like… Do you always buy melon bread from the school shop for lunch?”

Armin laughed. “That wasn’t what I was expecting,” he said, looking more relaxed. “I buy bread every day, but sometimes I go for the red bean buns instead.”

“No bentos for you?” Jean asked curiously.

“Ah, no. My grandfather has to go out very early for work, and I’m a terrible cook.”

“Is it just you and your grandfather, then?”

“Yeah.” Armin’s smile had dimmed, so Jean just nodded and quickly moved on.

“I guess you’re too busy studying to learn how to cook, huh? Those exam results don’t just come out of nowhere.”

Armin’s smile returned, this time a little embarrassed. “Well, I _am_ here on academic scholarship,” he said. “Have to make sure I don’t get expelled.”

Academic scholar, huh? Jean should’ve figured that. He’d known that Eren and Mikasa were on sports scholarships, he just never thought about the less athletically-inclined Armin. He didn’t know _exactly_ where the three of them lived, but he knew it was in Maria, so there was no way they could afford a private school in Sina without some financial aid. Jean supposed it showed just how little attention he’d actually paid Armin before last Saturday. It made him feel kind of bad, though he wasn’t sure why, because it wasn’t like Armin had meant anything to him before. Why should he have noticed anything about some random kid he went to school with?

“So, what do you like to do when you’re not studying, then?” Jean changed the subject, hoping Armin hadn’t caught on to his surprise. He was supposed to know simple things like these, since he was claiming to have liked Armin for three months now.

“Um, I like reading,” Armin said, looking even more embarrassed. “Pretty lame, huh? I know, I’m a huge nerd.”

“It’s not lame,” Jean was quick to assure him. “What kind of books do you like?”

“Oh, all kinds. Anything I can get my hands on, really. I’m reading a book right now that I thought was a fantasy, because it was about this boy who has these powers to see the paths people have walked through history, but then it turns out to be a _sci-fi_ , because the planet he’s living on was colonised by humans and–” Armin went on to describe the plot, eyes bright and sparkling with interest. He gesticulated wildly with his free hand; the other waved his half-eaten melon bread around with just as much enthusiasm. Jean had to admit, it was pretty cute.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away,” Armin suddenly cut himself off with an embarrassed chuckle. “It’s probably pretty boring to you–”

“No, it actually sounds really interesting,” Jean said honestly. “I guess, since I only ever read things for school, I always thought books were boring. But what you just told me… Sounds more like a movie than any book I ever read.”

Armin smiled at him, small and shy and pleased. Apparently, Jean had said the right thing. “I’d lend it to you after I finish, but it’s borrowed from the local library,” Armin said apologetically. “You can borrow it after me, though?”

“Sounds good.” Jean smiled back, for once not having to fake it.

Dating Armin might not be too bad, after all.

\--

**Tuesday**

\--

Jean woke up to the _ding-ding_ of a new message. He reached for his phone, eyes only half-open, grumbling because there was still a whole half-hour before he actually had to get up. Which bastard was texting–

It was from Armin.

…Jean should have known he was a morning person.

 

_Good morning :)_

_why are you awake_

_go back to sleep_

_Haha, did I wake you? I’m in the train right now_

_The train from Shiganshina leaves pretty  
early, so I’m always awake at this time_

Man, he lived in _Shiganshina_? It must’ve cost him a fortune to commute to school every day. He knew Eren, Mikasa and Armin lived south of Trost, since they sometimes took the same train to school (though usually Jean took the next one because it let him sleep in an extra _three_ _whole_ _minutes_ ), but he hadn’t known they lived at the _end of the line_.

_ugh how_

_no wonder eren’s so cranky all the time,  
he’s suffering from sleep deprivation_

_Hahaha_

_Eren and Mikasa were up even earlier  
since they have athletics training today_

Wow. Maybe he _should_ go a little easier on Jaeger. At least _part_ of his douchiness must have been due to getting up at the ass crack of dawn. Then again, the rest of it was just Jaeger himself. No excuses there.

_so you’re making the commute all the  
way from shiganshina on your own?_

Which was kind of sad, really, because that must have been _so boring_. Eren and Mikasa had training, what, three times a week? Poor Armin must be lonely.

Before he knew what he was doing, he texted:

_want some company?_

_i only get on at trost though,  
so you’ll have to wait a bit_

For a moment, he just stared at his phone screen, wondering what had just happened. The last time Jean checked, he wasn’t that nice a person. What was he doing?

Well. Not like he could take it back now. What the hell, he could sacrifice three minutes for today.  

Armin didn’t answer immediately, and Jean figured he was going through a tunnel or something. He checked the time on his phone; he didn’t actually have to get up _immediately–_ Jean had long since perfected the art of getting ready for school in five minutes– but he couldn’t get back to sleep now, not after staring at his bright phone screen.

Instead, Jean got up and, for once, went about getting ready at a leisurely pace. It was quite nice, really, not to have to rush to tame his hair into an acceptable form while brushing his teeth and trying to pull on his socks at the same time.

Armin finally texted back ten minutes later, pleased enough about Jean’s offer that he used _two_ smileys. It was almost enough to make Jean consider getting up earlier to take the same train all the time, if it made Armin _that_ happy.

(Breakfast also tasted a lot better when he didn’t have to cram it in his mouth and swallow without chewing, but the thing about making his boyfriend happy sounded better.)

\--

“Good morning,” Jean greeted when he finally found Armin in the train. Armin’s face had been partially obscured by his beanie and huge scarf; Jean had had difficulty recognising him.

Armin –and thank god it actually _was_ Armin, and not some random stranger– beamed at him. “Good morning!” he replied cheerfully. “Thanks for getting up earlier to meet me.”

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Jean dismissed with a wave of his hand. “It’s only three minutes.”

“Still,” Armin persisted. “It was really nice of you.”

Jean just smiled, accepting the gratitude. No point in arguing. “So,” he said instead. “You get any further with that book?”

Armin’s eyes lit up. “I finished it last night!” he said excitedly. “It’s a shame the library doesn’t have the rest of the series, though.”

“So you’ll be hitting the bookstore, then?” Jean mused. “Isn’t the one near school having a sale soon?”

“Yeah, the sale started yesterday,” Armin confirmed. “But I had Science Club, so I was planning to go today instead… Jean, you don’t have club today, right? Do you… want to come with me?”

Jean blinked in surprise. Jean only ever went to the bookstore to pick up manga, usually with Connie and Marco. He hadn’t thought much of reading at all, but that book Armin was talking about really _did_ sound interesting. Maybe he _should_ try reading a book that wasn’t a boring lit text.

And anyway, Jean had endured far worse than a bookstore for a girlfriend before.

“Yeah, sure,” Jean agreed easily. “Hey, you’re not going with Eren and Mikasa? You three are usually inseparable.”

Armin seemed to tense up; strange reaction, considering they were his best friends. “Uh, no,” he said, sounding nervous. “They, uh, they aren’t all that into books, so I usually go by myself.”

“Ah.” Funny, Jean would have taken Mikasa for the reading type. He supposed he didn’t know all that much about her as a person. Well, since the chance presented itself…

“So how did you three become so close, anyway?” he asked, as casually as he could while his heart was beating faster at just the thought of Mikasa’s beautiful face. “You’re all pretty different.”

“Well,” Armin began, “long story short, we went to the same elementary school. I was a huge nerd even then, so I was bullied a lot. Eren and Mikasa put an end to it.”

How heroic of them. “And you’ve been best friends ever since?”

“Yep.”

“Wow,” said Jean. “So that’s why they’re so protective of you, huh?” Mikasa had famously destroyed a senior on the tennis court after the senior had accidentally sent a ball flying into Armin’s face. It was one of the first things that caught Jean’s attention, actually. And Eren, well, he’d heard that Eren wouldn’t even let Armin go to the toilet by himself all through junior high. He doubted that was entirely true, but hey, with Jaeger, who knew?

Armin laughed, but there was a hollow quality to it. “Yeah, the bullying got pretty bad. Eren and Mikasa are still a little paranoid, I guess.”

God, Armin was like the poster boy of perseverance in the face of adversity or something. A poor Shiganshina orphan who was bullied because of his intelligence, only to use that intelligence to get a scholarship to a private school in Sina? Jean’s life had been utterly mundane in comparison.

Part of him wanted to hug the poor kid to try to comfort him; a larger part of him was reluctant to make any sort of emotional response because even though they were dating, they really didn’t know much about each other, and it would be pretty awkward.

So instead, Jean went for his old fallback: crack a joke and change the subject.

“And they’re okay with you dating an asshole like me?” he asked, trying for his most wry smirk.

Armin flinched, which Jean hadn’t expected at all. “Oh, hey, look, we’ve arrived at the station!” he said loudly, slinging his bookbag on his shoulder and standing up quite suddenly.

Jean frowned. What was up between the three of them? Trouble in paradise? Regardless, Jean figured it was none of his business and let it slide. If it was important, he’d find out sooner or later.

\--

Unfortunately, Armin’s beef with his two best friends prevented Jean from learning anything more about Mikasa. The walk to school, lunch, the walk to the train station– any time Jean subtly tried to direct the conversation to her, Armin would smoothly sidestep and change the subject.

By the time they entered the bookstore, Jean just gave up. Those three were thick as thieves; eventually they’d patch things up, and Jean would be able to ask Armin whatever he liked about Mikasa. Until then, Jean would be a good boyfriend and gain Armin’s trust.

“Any recommendations?” he asked Armin, who was taking off his gloves and shoving them in his pockets.

“Not in this section,” Armin replied, making a face at a nearby shelf of books, all with the same grey tie on the cover. “C’mon.”

All in all, it took much less time than Jean had expected. It took Armin fifteen minutes to successfully sell Jean on a young adult post-apocalypse dystopia novel, five to browse what looked like the I-could-probably-kill-someone-with-this-book-it’s-so-thick section and pick out two intimidating novels, and another five to buy them at a 30% discount.

Armin was a terrifyingly efficient shopper.

“So, what else do you want to do today?” Armin asked as they walked down the street, oblivious to Jean’s awe. “Maybe we could go get something to eat. I’m not really hungry though…”

Jean hadn’t planned anything else; he’d assumed they’d take much longer in the bookstore. “We could go to the arcade,” he suggested after a quick look around, nodding at the arcade across the street. To his surprise, a pleased grin spread across Armin’s face.

“I bet I’ll kick your ass at Street Fighter,” the blond quipped. Jean scoffed. He and Marco had basically spent their childhoods in an arcade. Armin could dream, but there was no way he was kicking Jean’s ass at _anything_ in there.

“You’re on,” he said, cocky grin in place.

He just hoped Armin would at least provide a challenge.

\--

Apparently, Armin had basically spent his childhood in an arcade as well, because he was a _beast_ at Street Fighter. He could remember all the move combos and used them efficiently; but Jean got better at anticipating Armin’s moves the longer they played. In the end, Jean had to begrudgingly admit that they were pretty evenly matched, and they called it a tie.

So, of course, they went on to the other games.

Jean was better at the more physical games, like the basketball hoops and DDR; but Armin beat Jean at the shooting games and air hockey with ease. He also had some incredible talent with the claw machine, and actually managed to win a surprisingly cute horse plushie the size of his head.

“How?” was all Jean could say, staring at Armin in amazement.

Armin just grinned at him. “Secret,” he said cryptically, then held the horse out to Jean, slightly pink in the face. “Here.”

 _Oh great, a horse joke,_ Jean wanted to say, but Armin continued hastily, “Take it as an apology for all the times Eren called you horseface. I’m sorry I never tried to stop him.”

…Okay. That was the complete opposite of what Jean had expected.

He accepted the plushie quietly, not quite sure what to say. Eren’s annoying horse jokes had never had anything to do with Armin, so there was really no reason for him to apologise, but Jean was starting to see just how _nice_ Armin was.

“I, uh, came to terms with my horse face a long time ago,” Jean said finally, giving Armin a somewhat awkward smile. “But… thanks.”

Armin smiled back. “No problem. Let’s go redeem our tickets, shall we?”

\--

They didn’t have that many tickets, so the only thing they could afford was a tiny plastic Legend of Zelda triforce keychain. Jean offered it to Armin with a sheepish smile. “It’s not much,” he’d said, “compared to the horse.”

Armin, however, had been delighted, and immediately put it on his bookbag. He’d only played one Legend of Zelda game, _A Link to the Past_ on an old Game Boy Advance he’d picked up from a second-hand store years ago, he told Jean as they left the arcade, but he’d really enjoyed it.

Jean _loved_ the Legend of Zelda series, so of course this started an animated discussion, all the way until Jean had to get off at Trost.

“You should come over, we can play Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword on the Wii,” Jean had said in lieu of a goodbye, grinning. Armin had grinned back, just as excited as Jean was. “Definitely,” he’d said, and Jean left the train.

Now, on the walk back home, Jean couldn’t help but wonder at how much fun he’d actually had today. Armin was pretty cool; Jean hoped he’d still want to be friends after this whole dating thing was done with.

\--

**Wednesday**

\--

“Heeh, so he’s a gamer,” mused Marco quietly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. They were keeping their voices down so as not to attract Connie from where he, Thomas and Daz were laughing at some dumb manga. Jean would endure enough teasing this week without Connie knowing about Buchwald. (Armin had basically forced him into naming the horse plushie. The name happened to pop into Jean’s mind randomly.)

“He damn near beat me at Street Fighter, Marco,” Jean told him in a heated whisper. “ _Street Fighter_. I have kicked your ass in that game since we were 12.”

Marco pretended not to hear. “A stuffed horse,” he said instead, lightly. “How fitting.”

Jean rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a dick just because I’m better than you at some game,” he told Marco, fully aware that he himself was even worse when it came to losing.

“And you even gave it a name, how cute,” Marco continued, slightly louder.

“You piece of shit,” Jean hissed at him. “I’m sorry about bringing up Street Fighter, okay, just shut up before Connie hears you!”

“Too late,” said Connie’s voice in Jean’s ear, sounding irritatingly smug. “What don’t you want me to hear?”

“Can’t tell you, we’re planning your birthday surprise,” Marco lied smoothly, using his trust-me smile, and _this_ was why he was Jean’s best friend.

Connie frowned. “My birthday’s not till May.”

“It’s a _big_ surprise,” Jean assured him.

Connie regarded them through suspiciously narrowed eyes. “It’d better be,” he declared, and went back to Thomas and Daz.

“I wonder what’s up with Armin and Mikasa and Eren,” Marco remarked quietly when Connie was out of earshot. “I’ve never even heard of them fighting before.”

“I don’t think it’s a fight,” Jean mused. “He wasn’t angry. It was more like… guilt.”

“Could still be a fight,” Marco pointed out. “He might’ve been the one to cause it.”

Even before Marco finished his sentence, Jean shook his head. “If he was the reason for the fight, he’d have apologised immediately. If the fight went on even after that, he’d have been sad because his friends didn’t forgive him. Plus, we’d _definitely_ have noticed if Eren was angry with him.”

“What is it if not a fight?”

Jean thought about it. “I think,” he said slowly, “he’s hiding something.”

Marco smiled at him knowingly. “You seem to know him quite well already, huh,” he observed. “It’s only been two days.”

Jean snorted. “I know _people_ ,” he reminded Marco. “Deducing a sequence of events has nothing to do with any level of personal intimacy.”

Marco’s stupid smile didn’t go away. “Sure,” he said. “Whatever you say.”

\--

Armin was acting very strangely come lunchtime. He practically dragged Jean to the Home Ec room, without even bothering to stop for his own food. “Not hungry,” Armin had said shortly when Jean brought it up, but Jean didn’t quite believe him.

“Okay, what’s up?” Jean asked, concerned, when they were alone, and Armin had breathed a soft sigh of relief. “Are you in trouble or something?”

“Uh,” said Armin nervously. “Not exactly?”

Jean frowned. “Does this have to do with Eren and Mikasa?” he asked, unwrapping his bento.

Armin’s eyes widened. “Y-Yes, but how…?”

Jean gave him a wry smile. “Secret,” he said, echoing Armin’s words from the day before. “So, what’s up?”

Armin still seemed reluctant to share. Jean let the silence stretch on for a while, starting on his lunch, while he slowly put the pieces together. Armin hiding something, the rush to get here, the hesitance to tell Jean what was up…

Come to think of it, Armin started avoiding the topic after Jean asked whether Eren and Mikasa were okay with his dating Jean.

Jean swallowed a mouthful of rice. “You haven’t told them about me, have you?”

Armin flinched. “Are you always this perceptive?” he asked weakly.

“It’s a gift,” Jean said flatly, feeling conflicted. On the one hand, he could see why Armin wouldn’t want Eren to know about his dating Jean; the two of them were basically sworn rivals, so that definitely wouldn’t go down well. On the other hand, Jean felt kind of like a dirty little secret that Armin was ashamed of, which felt really fucking shitty, especially considering the whole of 2-D probably already knew they were dating since Armin came to pick him up for lunch _every day_.

Armin sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said guiltily. “It’s not that I don’t want them to know I’m dating you, it’s just that they’ll probably give you a really hard time. I… I guess I didn’t want them to scare you off. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t even like me,” Jean blurted out without thinking, and quickly reordered his thoughts. “I mean, why were you concerned about _scaring me off_? It would probably be the quickest way out of this without hurting my feelings for you.” _And me,_ Jean added in his thoughts bitterly.

Armin shook his head. “I didn’t want out,” he said firmly. “And I’m glad I started dating you. Even if, right now, I don’t like you as a _boyfriend_ , I’m definitely starting to like you as a _person_. That day, on the roof– if I’d rejected you then, I would never have known even the little bit of you I do now. So… I don’t want out. Not if you don’t.”

Jean… was speechless. Armin should join the debate team or something, because _holy shit_ , that had been a _great_ speech. He was just about to open his mouth and say –he didn’t really know what– but just then, the door slammed open violently.

“There you are!”

Eren was standing in the doorway, chest heaving like he’d just run a marathon. He looked worried, though all his emotions tended to translate as anger on his face. His gaze flicked from Armin to Jean, and his face scrunched up in a scowl. “What the hell are you doing with _horseface_?”

Armin winced. “Sorry,” he told Jean. Jean dismissed it with a shake of his head. He would probably never be able to take it as an insult ever again because the first thing he thought of now was Buchwald, sitting cutely in the middle of his pillow.

“Why are you apologising to _him_?!” Eren demanded.

“Eren, please,” Armin said calmly, then turned to Jean with an apologetic smile. “Jean, I’m sorry about this, but I think it would be best if you had lunch with your friends today.”

He was right. Jean’s presence would only make both him and Eren angry, and that probably wasn’t the best idea considering what Armin was going to tell him.

“Good idea,” said Jean, putting away his bento, sneering at Eren. “It’s starting to smell in here, anyway.”

“You _bastard_ –”

“ _Eren_ ,” Armin chided. Jean raised his eyebrows at Eren smugly. “And you,” Armin continued, turning to Jean with an unimpressed expression, “don’t provoke him.”

Jean raised his hands in the universal gesture of innocence. “Alright, I’m getting out of here. See you later, Armin.”

“ _What does he mean, later?!”_

\--

Eren was not happy with the situation at all.

The other boy hadn’t said a single word to Jean throughout soccer practice, but the ball mysteriously kept flying viciously at Jean, and he had no doubt who the culprit was. Still, as angry as Eren was right now, he would probably rip Jean to shreds given a reason. Jean may have been an asshole, but he wasn’t suicidal, so even though it nearly killed him, he kept his mouth shut and waited for Eren to shower, dress and stomp out of the locker room before making a face at the door swinging shut behind him.

“What’s his problem?” Connie murmured, buttoning his shirt. “His dog die or something?”

“Not quite,” Jean replied darkly, hoping Eren would calm the fuck down before the next practice. He didn’t think he could survive that again. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Armin:

_eren tried to kill me at soccer practice_

_D:_

_What did he do??_

_Are you okay??_

_I’ll talk to him_

_Sorry!! :(((_

_i hope mikasa was more accepting?_

Jean honestly didn’t know what answer he wanted. If she wasn’t happy about it, Jean probably wouldn’t live through the week. At the same time, Jean would be disappointed to hear that she didn’t care about Jean going out with someone else. Though, to be fair, she’d probably never thought of Jean in that way, but Jean could dream.

_She was so happy I actually saw her smile!!_

_Apparently, she already knew :O_

_???_

_Turns out your friend Connie told her friend Sasha_

_She just didn’t say anything because she knew Eren  
would be angry about it_

_how considerate of her_

_She always is ^^_

Ahh, _that_ was what Jean was after. Maybe now Armin’s friends knew the truth, there’d be more opportunities to get to know Mikasa better? The thought made Jean smile.

“Whoooaaa, what’s that smile, huh? Who you textin’ there, Jean?” Connie leered at him, waggling his eyebrows. “Your boyfriend?”

Jean rolled his eyes. He quickly locked his phone and put it away before Connie could snatch it from him. “Let’s just go,” he told Connie, shouldering his bag and starting towards the door.

“Oh, but it _was_ your boyfriend, right?” Connie persisted.

“Y’know, this teasing-out-of-jealousy thing is getting really old,” Jean retorted. “When are you going to suck it up and confess to Sa–”

“Shh!” Connie hissed, nearly leaping on Jean to cover his mouth in his panic. “Don’t shout it to the whole world!”

Jean rolled his eyes and pried Connie away from him. “I’m pretty sure everyone except you and Sasha know already,” he said dryly. “Just ask her out, I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

“Piss off,” Connie grumbled, shoving Jean lightly in the shoulder.

“Now you know how I feel,” Jean countered. Connie pretended not to hear him.

\--

**Thursday**

\--

Jean and Armin were on the same train to school again, since Mikasa and Eren had training– and Jean couldn’t believe what Armin had just suggested.

“Lunch with Eren and Mikasa?” he repeated, half-horrified and half-elated.

“We don’t have to,” Armin assured him hastily. “It’s just that you and Eren are so similar, I’m sure if you just got to know each other a little better…”

Jean made a face. There was no way around it, those three were joined at the hip. He’d never be able to spend some time with Mikasa without Eren present. Jean would just have to suck it up sooner or later.

“Alright,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “But don’t expect us to become _friends_ or anything.”

“All I want is for you two to not rip each other’s throats out every three minutes,” Armin assured him with a relieved smile. “So, please, try to be nice?”

“Fine,” grumbled Jean. “But if he starts it–”

“I’ll finish it,” Armin promised. “Okay?”

Fair enough. “Okay,” Jean agreed begrudgingly. “Can we talk about something else, now?”

“Like what?”

“Anything,” Jean deadpanned, only half-joking. “Got any plans for the weekend?”

“Just doing homework and helping my grandfather do some gardening,” Armin said, sounding embarrassed. “I’m pretty boring. I’m sure your weekends are usually more exciting.”

Jean snorted. Armin expected too much from him. “Please. All I did last weekend was take a million naps. Gardening is _riveting_ in comparison.”

Armin blinked at him in obvious surprise. “Really?” he asked. “I guess I just assumed…” He trailed off, looking at Jean like he’d just learnt something incredibly interesting about him. It was starting to make Jean feel a little self-conscious.

“Hey,” Jean blurted out, mostly in an attempt to escape Armin’s scrutiny, “let’s go see a movie on Sunday.”

Armin turned pink. “U-Um, sure,” he said nervously. “What movie?”

“Don’t know,” Jean said truthfully. “We’ll find out. What kind of movies do you like?”

“Uh,” said Armin in that voice that meant he was embarrassed about his answer, and Jean wasn’t even surprised that he could recognise it, given how often Armin used it. Armin had to stop caring so much about others’ opinions. “I… don’t really watch movies too often.”

Jean smiled. “Alright then,” he said decisively. “You introduced me to books, I’ll introduce you to movies. Fair?”

Armin smiled back, small and shy and grateful. “Fair.”

Jean nodded. “It’s a date.”

“…It’s a date,” Armin agreed softly.

\--

Lunch was positively _painful_.

They’d pushed two desks together to make enough space. Armin was sitting across from Eren and next to Jean, presumably so it was easier to stop them from fighting. Mikasa, across from Jean, was already starting on her lunch calmly, her usual stone-face in place.

“Okay, you two,” Armin said with a somewhat terrifying smile, “play nice.”

Jean had to force himself not to roll his eyes in exasperation. He and Eren just glared at each other for a long while, until Armin must have kicked Eren or something because he suddenly let out a frustrated sigh.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Eren grit out through his teeth.

An apology! Oh, Jean could get used to this. “Yeah, it was a dick move,” Jean agreed easily, his grin smug.

Eren looked like he wanted to lunge across the table and strangle Jean. Armin must have kicked him again, because he forced his face into some semblance of normalcy and started stabbing at his lunch darkly instead.

Satisfied, Jean turned to Mikasa. “So, uh, Mikasa,” he began, trying to play it cool. “You did really well in the tennis tournament last summer. Are you still playing singles 3 this year?”

“I’ll be playing singles 2,” she replied quietly, and went back to her food.

Uh. Okay.

“Think we can win Nationals this time?” Jean tried again.

“Maybe,” Mikasa said. Jean waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. What the hell? Had Jean done something to offend her? Did he smell bad or something?!

“Don’t take it personally,” Armin told him apologetically. “She doesn’t say much unless she has something to say. It’s just how she is.”

“Huh,” Jean said. This was going to be harder than he thought. Still, he couldn’t give up, not when the girl of his dreams was _right there_. He had to keep trying.

\--

Most of the lunchtime conversation was between Jean and Armin, since Eren was busy sulking and Mikasa was the strong, silent type. Armin often directed questions to Eren, but received short, monosyllabic answers more often than not. Jean did the same with Mikasa, but didn’t fare much better. It got to a point where Armin visibly gave up and just let Eren steep in his own fury. Jean kept at it, determined to learn something about Mikasa besides her reluctance to speak, but all in vain.

All in all, it was a pretty shitty experience.

“Sorry,” said Armin apologetically, when he was walking Jean back to 2-D. “We don’t have to do that ever again–”

“No, it’s fine,” Jean interrupted. This was just a minor setback. He was going to get Mikasa to open up if it was the last thing he did. “I’m sure we’ll be able to get along somehow.”

Armin smiled warmly. “Thanks for trying so hard,” he said. “Eren will come around, you’ll see.”

Oh, right. Eren was going to be there, too. Jean hummed non-committally in response. He doubted Eren would ever ‘come around’, but, hey, Armin could hope.

\--

**Friday**

\--

_how do you get people to talk to you when they don’t want to_

_What_

_mikasa_

_it’s like squeezing blood from a stone_

_help_

_We are in class_

_Some of us actually need to study to get good grades_

_it’s just hannes_

_he won’t notice_

_and he can’t teach for shit anyway_

_c’mon_

_she’s the strong silent type_

_armin says she doesn’t speak unless  
there’s something worth saying_

_help me_

_marco_

_marcooo_

_i’ll be your best friend if you help_

_oh wait i already am_

_you have a duty to me_

_who visited you every day when you broke your  
leg falling off your bike when we were nine_

_whose apple pie got you an A in home ec_

_who taught you how to whistle_

_Stop glaring at me_

_You’re the one who made me fall off  
the bike in the first place_

_The daily visits were out of guilt_

_i’m the only reason you can whistle_

_You’re such a pain in the ass_

_Just find a subject worth talking  
about and she’ll talk_

_like what??_

_i tried everything yesterday_

_everything_

_Let me rephrase_

_Find a subject **she** thinks  
is worth talking about_

_What’s important to her_

_i don’t know_

_she won’t tell me anything_

_Then find out_

_And stop texting me_

_-___-_

_:)_

\--

Jean thought long and hard about what was important to Mikasa for the rest of the morning. It was proving difficult; the only thing he knew about her was that she was amazingly talented on the tennis court and extremely protective of her two best friends. Bringing up tennis yesterday hadn’t worked, so Jean was left with Armin and Eren.

It probably wouldn’t be too difficult to bring the conversation around to Armin, since he was Jean’s boyfriend. Eren, on the other hand… Well, Jean would almost rather shoot himself in the hip than converse politely about _Eren fucking Jaeger_. It would probably hurt less, too.

…Though, it would be worth it if he could grow closer to Mikasa.

The things he did for love.

\--

Armin was oddly bread-less today at lunch.

“Not hungry?” Jean asked, opening his bento box.

“Uh, no,” Armin replied, but the way he was eyeing Jean’s food made it seem like a lie. “No, I’m not hungry today.”

“Armin,” said Eren, frowning at him in concern.

Armin just smiled brightly at him. “Don’t worry!” he said. “Really. I’m just saving stomach for the feast Grandpa said he’d make tonight.”

“You can have half of my lunch,” Mikasa offered, clearly not convinced, but Armin shook his head.

“I’m really not hungry,” he insisted.

Jean looked between the three of them, slowly joining the dots. As much as he loved his food, in a situation like this…

Even Jean wasn’t that much of an asshole. “Well,” he said casually, “do you want to try some of mine?”

Armin turned wide, hopeful eyes on him for a moment before catching himself. “It’s yours, Jean,” he said, smiling the same bright smile he’d given Eren. “I couldn’t.”

“At least have a piece of karaage,” Jean persisted. “My mother’s karaage is the _best_.” Personally, he thought his mother’s _everything_ was the best, she was an amazing cook, but he kept that part to himself.

Eventually Jean managed to wear him down, and Armin hesitantly took his chopsticks. “Thanks for the meal,” he murmured, and popped the smallest piece in his mouth.

Armin didn’t make a noise, but closed his eyes in obvious enjoyment. Jean smiled. “Try some of the steamed vegetables, too, if you want,” he prompted, casually nudging the bento box over, and Armin, who was evidently quite a bit hungrier than he’d admitted, went straight for it.

Eren and Mikasa shot him grateful looks while Armin wasn’t looking, and Jean nodded slightly in response. Even after just a week, he knew that Armin was too nice for his own good.

“So,” he said conversationally. “I get why Armin wanted to come here, but what about you two? The sports program here isn’t _that_ good.”

“Armin wanted to come,” Mikasa said, like that explained everything. And, well, with these two, it probably did.

“Just like that, you two decided to come along?” Jean asked anyway, in the hopes of getting Mikasa to speak more. “You didn’t even think about schools more suited to–”

“ _Armin wanted to come,_ ” Mikasa repeated firmly.

Alright, Armin was definitely important to her.

“Fair enough,” said Jean, and left the subject alone. Next to him, Armin set the chopsticks down across the bento box and pushed it back over to Jean.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling that one bright smile. “It was really good.”

He’d barely eaten anything at all. “You want more?” Jean offered. “It’s no trouble.”

“No, I’ve had enough, tha–”

“Kirschtein,” Sasha’s voice boomed from across the room, and suddenly she was right next to them, slamming her hands on the desk. “You’re offering food?!”

“No!” Jean snapped, trying to pull his bento away, but Sasha had already snatched it up. “Dammit, Braus!”

“I heard you offer~” she sang, already rushing away while shovelling food into her mouth. It made Jean want to cry. Good food was mean to be savoured!

“Sasha,” Jean growled, prepared to chase her– but Armin gripped his elbow lightly. “Wait,” he said softly, nodding at Mikasa.

Or, rather, Mikasa’s now-empty seat. Jean saw a flash of silky black hair, and then suddenly Mikasa had wrestled Jean’s bento away from Sasha.

“No fair,” Sasha whined.

“They restocked the salt-and-vinegar potato chips in the vending machine,” Armin told her, and she was gone in the blink of an eye.

Mikasa held Jean’s bento out to him. Sasha had eaten almost everything– all that was left was a mouthful of rice. “Sorry,” Mikasa said, though her voice sounded pretty much the same as normal.

Jean put on a smile, because crying over food was pretty uncool. “It’s fine,” he said, eating the bit of rice. “I’ll go buy something. You guys want anything?”

“I’m sorry,” said Armin, looking upset. “If I hadn’t eaten before–”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Jean said firmly, because Armin _always_ blamed himself for everything, and it was time he learnt not to. “You want to come with me to the school shop? You can recommend things to me.”

Armin agreed to go along, but the guilty expression stayed on his face, even after Jean bought him melon bread in an attempt to cheer him up. Jean ended up spending the rest of lunch period chewing on yakisoba-pan and trying to make Armin laugh with stupid jokes. Eren and Mikasa joined in, too, recounting funny stories from their past. It took half an hour, but finally Armin cracked a smile at the dumbest pun Jean had ever made in his entire life.

It felt like victory.

All in all, lunch had been a much more exciting experience than the day before.

\--

_Thank you._

_you’re welcome :)_

_\--_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, this became a monster. I have never uploaded a chapter of this length before in my life. Please tell me if the pacing is bad, especially towards the end. Keeping to schedules is hard! :(
> 
> Also, Buchwald is basically a bigger version of this: http://l.rgbimg.com/cache1nETSC/users/s/su/sue_r_b/600/mhBHiqW.jpg 
> 
> And the book Armin's talking about is Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card, the first book in the Pathfinder series. It's awesome, but it's also very long. Jean didn't know what he was getting into. The young adult post-apocalyptic dystopia novel he picked up is probably Hunger Games or Maze Runner. (Also did you get what book Armin was making a face at? xD)
> 
> Please leave a comment letting me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Come show me some love at writers-haven.tumblr.com if that's your thing :)


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